Missouri football in the modern age begins with Don Faurot. The first of four
brothers who would letter in football for the University Of Missouri, Faurot was
a three-sport letterman who left the family farm and became the captain of the
Tigers basketball team, the starting fullback for the football squad, and an
infielder with the baseball team. Upon graduation he became the football coach
at Kirksville Teachers College, later renamed Truman State University. He won
twenty-six consecutive games and seven conference titles in nine years before
becoming Mizzou’s head coach in 1935. The moribund Missouri program had compiled
two wins in the three years prior to Faurot’s appointment and he took little
time in turning the squad into the finely tuned machine he knew he could
produce. Behind The College Football Hall Of Fame play of “Pitchin’ Paul”
Christman who was a star quarterback for the Chicago Cardinals after Naval duty
in World War II, Faurot’s team was a national power and played in both the
Orange and Sugar Bowls. Needing to spring loose what he thought were talented
backs after the graduation of two-time All American Christman, Faurot developed
what became his legacy to the game of football, the Split-T Offense. Faurot was
always “a tinkerer” with formations and he was intrigued by the modernized
T-Formation used by the victorious Chicago Bears in the NFL, and the Rose Bowl
champs of Stanford coached by Clark Shaughnessy. Biff Jones, the Nebraska coach
who was on the losing end of the Rose Bowl game to Stanford, gave his copy of
the game film to the Missouri coach and Faurot soon came up with his new
offensive plan. Faurot and his Split-T, as former Missouri and Notre Dame coach
Dan Devine stated in 1995, “made the only significant change in offensive
football in, I used to say, fifty years but now I’d say seventy-five years.” The
Single Wing Offense of the era placed the offensive linemen very close together
and the back would receive the ball from the center while in a crouch a few
yards behind the line. The Split-T took the closely spaced offensive linemen and
moved them further apart, a significant move that placed one foot of distance
between the center and each guard, two feet between the guards and tackles, and
three feet between the tackles and ends. This unique spacing provided more lanes
to run through and as importantly, placed the quarterback directly behind the
center in a half-crouch stance. To complete the Split-T innovation, Faurot gave
the quarterback the option of handing to the back diving into the hole, or
pulling the ball back and keeping it. With Bob Steuber in the 1941 backfield, an
eventual entrant to The College Football Hall Of Fame, and All American Dan
Jenkins at center, Faurot wanted to produce a scenario he had taken great
advantage of as a basketball player at Missouri, forcing defenders to respond to
the football equivalent of a two-on-one break. The wider line spacing allowed
the quarterback to give a running back a hand-off on a dive play into a specific
hole or dependent upon the reaction of the defender, keep the ball and run down
the line with the option of keeping it himself or pitching it wide to a trailing
back. The Wishbone, Veer, and I-Formations are all off-shoots or modified
versions of Faurot’s original Split-T attack. Incredibly, the 1941 Missouri
offense averaged 307.7 yards-per-game rushing, the best in the nation, and
almost unbelievable numbers for that era. The Tigers’ top three backs ranked as
the top three rushers in the conference.

It was said that “the only mistake Farout made in
creating the Split-T was sharing it with others” because prior to the widespread
use of film study, the only way to learn the nuances of a new system was to be
taught by another coach or player who had been in that system. Faurot served in
the military after the 1942 season, leaving the team to former Mizzou football
letterman, assistant football coach, and track coach Chauncey Simpson and was
assigned first to Iowa Pre-Flight and then the Jacksonville Naval Station. While
the Tigers struggled with a team of those too young for the military draft and
wounded veterans, Faurot taught his military assistants Jim Tatum and Bud
Wilkinson the secrets to his new formation. Tatum and Wilkinson would both copy
Faurot’s theories and win national championships, Tatum at Maryland and
Wilkinson as a long-time Missouri nemesis at Oklahoma. Wilkinson himself was
quoted as saying that “The Split-T Formation was the greatest offensive
innovation in a quarter-century.” Faurot returned to the Columbia campus after
the War, resuming his head coaching and athletic director’s duties in time for
the 1946 season. Simpson’s ’45 team had posted a 6-3 record and traveled to the
Cotton Bowl to be taken apart by Bobby Layne and his Texas Longhorns 40-27 to
finish at 6-4. Faurot’s ’46 squad came in at 5-4-1 as life after the War began
to return to normal.

As the ‘47 team showed some improvement to 6-4,
Harold “Bus” Entsminger, the QB on Missouri’s 1942 Conference Championship team
returned from military service in time for the ’46 season and blossomed in 1947.
Considered by most football historians as the best Split-T QB that ever directed
a Faurot-coached team, he led the team in rushing, passing, and total offense
and was an All Big Six pick. He had a lot of assistance from end Mel Sheehan,
tackle Chester Fritz, guard Virlie Abrams, and versatile back Dick Braznell, all
of them All Conference. Guard John Kadlec was one of the youngsters with obvious
potential and Ed Quirk, primarily a FB, went on to play for the Redskins for
four seasons at both FB and LB. In 1948, Faurot introduced his team to the
Riddell plastic RT model helmets, painted black with a one-inch old gold center
stripe, reflecting the school colors. The ’48 squad was again led by All
Conference QB Entsminger who led the Tigers in passing and total offense and he
again teamed with three-year starter Sheehan to form the core of an explosive
unit. The 331 points scored remained the highest total for a Tiger squad until
1969 and they averaged over 370 yards per game. Entsminger later became the
University Of Missouri’s Vice President and Sheehan the school’s athletic
director after years as a public school superintendent and Big Eight football
official. The 8-3 record came from the contributions of a strong line led by
center Bob Fuchs, guard Gene Pepper, and tackle and captain Chester Fritz. The
20-14 upset win over the SMU Southwest Conference Champions led by Doak Walker
and Kyle Rote broke the Mustangs’ sixteen-game winning streak and put the Tigers
on the national map in what is still considered one of the most exciting and
significant games in the program’s history and one that began the trend of
posting one or two major upsets each season. In a fantastic Gator Bowl contest
against Clemson, the Tigers lost 24-23 but it was noted with exuberance and
pride that all forty-eight members of the team hailed from the state of
Missouri. The 225 points given up by the 1949 defense was the highest in
Missouri history but the team dubbed “The Krazy Kats” was scappy and benefited
from Faurot’s scrimmage habit of having the goal line dive play practiced
against a fifteen-man defense. With a bevy of All Big Seven performers setting
the tone, the 7-3 record included only one conference loss, to Oklahoma, and
earned the Tigers a berth in the Gator Bowl against Maryland. The line featured
guards Pepper who was All Conference and played for the Redskins from ’50-’53
and then spent a year with Baltimore, and Kadlec. Fuchs remained the fiery team
leader and Gene Ackerman was another All Big Seven pick who went both ways at
end and caught forty of QB Phil Klein’s passes. The backfield play highlighted
the talents of HB’s Dick Braznell and John Glorioso. Faurot tried a platoon
system early in the year but the squad was stronger returning to two-way players
across the board. The 20-7 bowl game loss to Maryland dropped them to 7-4.

After the 1949 season when successful Ohio State
coach Wes Fesler unexpectedly bowed to the enormous pressure of the job and
stepped down after the Buckeyes defeated Cal in the Rose Bowl, Coach Faurot was
a natural choice for this plum position and he took it. Two days later he
announced that he would stay at Missouri where his heart was and where he would
remain until he decided to devote full time to the AD job prior to the 1957
season. Unfortunately, his 1950 Tiger team was beset by “senioritis” and what
seemed like a recurring lack of motivation. They opened the season by being
shutout by their first two opponents. The offense eventually found itself and in
a wild game that was lost to Nebraska 40-34, the two teams amassed 1054 total
yards! There were talented players, among them All Big Seven selections Ackerman
at end and tough John Kadlec at guard. Kadlec has the distinction of being the
very first Missouri player to be featured on the cover of the football media
guide and in time earned the nickname “Mr. Missouri” due to his lengthy tenure
at the school. He was on staff as a grad assistant in 1951 as he finished his
Masters Degree and then served as an assistant coach under Faurot, Broyles,
Devine, and Onofrio before taking on a number of administrative positions at his
beloved alma mater. Typical of Faurot teams, there were outstanding two-way
players with HB Ed Stephens among them and he saved the game against hated
Kansas by recovering four fumbles. Bill Fuchs stepped in to replace his brother
Bob at center and was an exceptional defensive lineman. The wide runs to the
outside were left to rapid HB Junior Wren. Seeking an extra game to offset
athletic department expenses, Missouri closed the season at Miami and got
thumped 27-9 to finish at 4-5-1, Faurot’s first losing season since 1937. With
the start of the Korean War and the graduation loss of many seniors, Faurot had
a very young team on the field for ’51 and felt it necessary to scrap his pet
Split-T offense after watching Oklahoma State almost beat the Tigers with a
Spread Formation. With an inexperienced QB and backfield, he adopted the Spread
Formation and made use of the passing arm of eighteen-year old QB Tony Scardino.
Despite injury HB Wren still turned in another All Conference season leading the
squad in rushing, punting, and total offense and as an All American Baseball
outfielder, played in the Major Leagues after serving in the military. He
returned to football in 1956 with the Browns who had originally drafted him in
’52 and played DB for them through 1959. Wren finished his NFL career with the
Steelers in 1960 and played with the AFL Titans in ’61. Fuchs, also All Big
Seven, was the bulwark of the line for the exciting but disappointing 2-8 squad.

In 1952 Faurot was pleased when the University
President announced that formal athletic scholarships would be granted and noted
that all but three of the eighty varsity, junior varsity, and freshman team
players were from Missouri. However he did look forward to the play of DE/FB
Bill Rowekamp who was from Ohio and who had transferred after being expelled
from West Point in the infamous cheating scandal. Unfortunately, the slow 1-4
start belied the talent that included a horde of All Conference picks. Both
tackles, Don Rutter and Paul Fuchs, guards Bob Castle and Jack Lordo, LB Terry
Roberts, and HB Ed Merrifield who was a defensive specialist, all received
honors. Merrifield later served with distinction as a Big Eight official. With
Rowekamp moved to HB and teamed with Nick Carras at FB, the sleeping giant awoke
to finish at 5-5 using the usual Faurot Split-T. A change in NCAA rules for 1953
mandated strict substitution rules to offset the manpower shortages of the
Korean War and this played into the hands of Faurot who always preferred two-way
performers. FB Bob Bauman won All Conference honors primarily on his linebacker
play and blocking ability and guard Roberts repeated as an All Conference pick
for his defensive acumen. QB Scardino directed the attack that helped the squad
to a 6-4 finish. The highlight of the Kansas game occurred with minutes
remaining when a KU player was stripped of the ball and a massive bench-clearing
brawl ensued. It was left to Faurot and KU coach Jules Sikes, who resigned
immediately after the game, to wade into the melee and break up the
free-for-all. Harold “Hank” Burnine was the leading receiver in the conference
in 1954 and played exceptionally well next to All Big Seven tackle Al Portney
but the defense was inconsistent. Tiger fans were ecstatic after the 41-18
victory over Kansas that finally evened up the series at 28-28-7. If the season
had ended there at 4-4-1, the win over KU would have made for an acceptable
winter but Faurot’s friend Jim Tatum had convinced the head man to make the
Tigers’ first appearance on national television against his eighth-ranked
Maryland team after what was the traditional close of Mizzou’s season. Five days
after besting Kansas, Missouri did appear on national television and received a
frightful 74-13 embarrassment from Maryland. Faurot stated “They stomped my guts
clear to my backbone” and thus the season ended on a disastrous note. Perhaps it
was fitting that the Tigers would open the ’55 season against Maryland who had
bombed them 74-13 on national television in 1954’s season finale. After losing
by only 14-13 to the Terps who would go on to an undefeated season, it seemed
that the Tigers would be strong in ’55 but they managed a poor 1-9 mark with
their only win against Colorado. Even with QB Jim Hunter in and out of the
lineup with injury, end Burnine managed to lead the nation in receiving with
forty-four receptions. The military veteran was named All American and All Big
Seven and then played two seasons in the NFL with the Giants and Eagles. A
petition emanating from the Kansas City area that called for Faurot’s
resignation made headlines as the season mercifully ended.

If interested in any of these Mizzou helmets please click on the
photos below.